Information on Demand_Tuesday 10/23/2012

Tuesday’s Theme at IOD was Big Analytics and IBM did it right. There was something for everyone in the offerings of the day. I was most impressed by the sheer number of Customer Applications by Industry Segment, much less the breadth of the portfolio that IBM has assembled since its initial acquisition of Cognos and SPSS.

Day 2

The day began with a presentation by Steve Mills, whom I refer to as the “Big Dog of the IBM Software Group”. Steve provided a good overview of the entire Information Management and Business Analytics strategy as it is currently being executed across the entirety of IBM. One could not walk away unimpressed by the sheer magnitude of IBM’s commitment to this space of the market, much less their accomplishments to date. It is clear to me that in spite of some very seasoned and formidable competition in the market, that IBM has “taken the hill” and plans on holding onto it.

For Industry Leaders out there take note; “Analytics is hard to do” no matter where you are starting from maturity-wise and in spite of you having committed your organization to becoming “an analytics-driven enterprise” it will be a long journey to get to such pervasiveness. Critical to success will be the selection of a Mentor/Partner whom will help facilitate wide cultural adoption and tangible results. Given my knowledge of the market, IBM is uniquely positioned to support you in this quest. They have acquired a brain trust of Decision Scientists who come from all sectors of the Analytics Community. Two of the most impressive groups in the Analytics Portfolio are; the Decision Management and Risk Analytics teams. Both were constituted from companies that have been acquired (ILOG, SPSS, Algorithmics, etc.) along with IBM’s own deep bench from Research, GBS and SWG. They have a clear mandate to support Customers in accelerating their time to value and delivering strategic outcomes from each Analytics Initiative undertaken. True Yeoman’s Work in my view.

As we begin Day 3 I am going to “keep buggering on” (Sir Winston’s favorite line) and will endeavor to dig deeper into “All Things Big” in Information and Analytics here at IOD. I will be spending my time digging deeper into customer applications and testimonials as this is the real value in attending an event like this.

Stay tuned my Captains of Industry. I will report in tomorrow with an update and deeper insights for all of you to consider.